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“Then it’s up to us to prevent Kim Jong-Il from twitching,” Murphy said. “We do exactly what we’ve set out to do, because the North Koreans aren’t going to do a thing without the support of the Chinese. If we make them back down, Kim Jong-Il will back down.”

“What if the Japanese navy gets into it with the Chinese?” Podvin asked.

“Won’t happen unless they know something that we don’t,” Murphy said, but even as the words came out of his mouth he wasn’t so sure. In the past few years the Japanese had done some surprising things. Their economy was going down the drain, and yet they continued to build up their military and even continue with the space program. They’d taken up slack left by Russia’s inability to keep pace with the Freedom space station, even though the cost to them was so enormous it was straining their budget at the seams.

“What do you mean?” President Lindsay asked.

“Japan going up against North Korea is one thing. They’ve been enemies for five hundred years, and the North Koreans are technologically no match for them, even with their four nuclear weapons and million-man army. But going up against China is another matter entirely. It’d be a war Japan couldn’t possibly win.”

“What could they know that we don’t that would make the difference?” the President pressed.

“I was just thinking out loud,” Murphy said. “The Japanese took the North Korean threat seriously enough to try to sabotage it, and Prime Minister Enchi sent a letter to you this morning knowing that the Chinese were sending a naval force. Makes me wonder if something else is happening that we’re not aware of.”

“It might be a good idea if I fly out to Tokyo this morning after all,” Carter said. “Maybe a face-to-face meeting might slow things down a bit. Give us a chance to work something out.”

“We owe them at least that much,” Tony Croft, the President’s adviser on foreign affairs, put in.

“I agree,” the President said. “But we’re going to keep the trip out of the media.”

“They’ll have to be told something,” Secor said.

“I’ll hold a news conference this afternoon to deal with Pyongyang’s and Seoul’s statements, but beyond that there will be no leaks.”

Everyone around the table nodded. This was one president who did not enjoy being second-guessed by the media.

“In the meantime I want no slipups. As soon as the Seventh Fleet shows up, there are going to be a lot of tense trigger fingers. I’m going to need every piece of hard information that the CIA and NSA can provide me as soon as it occurs. Are we clear on that?”

“Yes, sir,” said Murphy and Roswell.

“Then, let’s get to it, gentlemen. I want a diplomatic solution this time. No shots fired.”

* * *

After the meeting, Murphy went with Secor and Croft upstairs to Secor’s office, where CIA General Counsel Paterson had just arrived. Paterson, a look of exasperation on his long face, was dressed as usual in a dark three-piece business suit.

“Sorry to disturb your Sunday morning,” Murphy told him as they went inside.

“Comes with the territory, General,” he said briskly. “Nothing more than I expected when I signed on.” He shook hands with Secor and Croft. “We have our work cut out for us if we expect to get McGarvey confirmed by the Senate.”

“The President doesn’t want to take a hit, so we can’t drop the ball,” Secor said. “But I have to agree with you, it’s going to be tough, if not impossible. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to convince the President to pick someone else?” Croft asked. He was scowling, as if he had a toothache, none of his usual good cheer showing. “There has to be somebody else over there who can do the job.”

“Not as good as McGarvey,” Murphy said. “You’ve looked at his record, you know what he’s done for us.”

“From what I’ve seen he’s a one-man killing machine, and a maverick to boot,” Croft said. “Is he the one you want for the job, General?”

“Frankly I wouldn’t have picked him, but only because I never thought he’d accept the offer. And I’m even more surprised that the President wants him.”

“Has he accepted?” Secor asked.

“He’s been acting DDO as of yesterday.”

Secor and Croft exchanged a worried glance. “That’s not so good. You should have waited,” Croft said.

Paterson took several files out of his briefcase and handed them around. “Our battle plan,” he said. “And believe me we’re going to need it because this is going to set a record for the all-time toughest appointment in our history.”

Paterson, a New York lawyer like Ryan, had many of the same pretentious attitudes as his predecessor, but although he wasn’t quite as effective on the Hill yet, he had none of Ryan’s ambitions to become a spy. When Murphy had hired him he’d done so with the warning that people in the business tended to be odd ducks, hard to figure by an outsider and even harder to control.

“As I see it, we have four major concerns to deal with if we’re going to make this fly, the first of which is McGarvey’s past. It’s going to have to be sanitized, which means we’re going to end up lying through our teeth to Congress.” Paterson looked over the rim of his reading glasses at Secor. “Does the President understand this?”

“Let’s sidestep that part for the moment, Carleton, because we’re not going to back the President into any corners. If there’s any heat, we’re going to take it. So I think we’d better find a way through this that we can all live with.”

“McGarvey’s official record with the CIA is actually quite brief,” Murphy said. “And his special operations for us have all been black, so I don’t know how much of that will have to come out.”

“It’s all grist for their mill,” Paterson said. “And don’t think otherwise. If something comes up that’s too secret to share with the public, the subcommittee will meet in camera. What I’m telling you is that if McGarvey’s full record comes out he’ll never be confirmed, not in a thousand years.” Paterson shook his head. “Just the Russian operation four months ago would be enough to sink him. What he did was illegal. Plain and simple. So what do we do about it?” he asked them all. He put his file folder down. “Because if we can’t overcome this first stumbling block then we might just as well give it up here and now. Save us all the work and save the CIA a black eye.”

“We lie to Congress,” Murphy said it for the others.

“Just the high points,” Secor said.

Paterson looked pointedly at Murphy. “I will not be a party to changing the actual record in CIA archives.”

“Nor will it be changed,” Murphy said. “We’ll sanitize McGarvey’s past as needed and present his record entirely in closed session.”

“Very well,” Paterson said. He picked up his folder. “The next two issues concern the terrorist attack against him in Georgetown and his response. I think we’re all in agreement that the incident probably had something to do with proposing McGarvey as DDO. And it’s now a matter of FBI record that McGarvey single-handedly killed the three alleged terrorists. Violence does surround the man. The question will be asked, then, if he is actually confirmed as DDO, how many similar incidents will occur and how many other innocent civilians will be hurt?”

Croft slumped back in his chair, a dour I-told-you-so look on his pudgy features. “Tell us something to cheer us up.”

“Americans don’t like to be pushed around. If some outside interest is, in actuality, trying to block this nomination it could work as a plus for us, providing the FBI can find out who they are.” He turned to Murphy. “I think this has to become a priority for us on top of everything else that’s happening.”